Owner of CitiStorage site celebrating but mum on auction

The city offered to pay $100M

Bushwick Inlet Park
Bushwick Inlet Park

Norman Brodsky, the owner of the former CitiStorage site, is celebrating, but it’s not exactly clear why.

The public bid for his 27-acre property — long eyed by the city for its Bushwick Inlet Park — closed on Wednesday, and the owner has been celebrating on social media and cryptically taunting the city, DNAinfo reported. Brodsky won’t say how many offers he’s received for the property, nor where they fall price-wise, telling the website that he won’t disclose that information until a contract is signed. The night before the auction ended, he tweeted photos of himself and others in front of several bottles of whiskey, toasting “tomorrow’s results.”

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Brodsky had refused a $100 million offer from the city for the property, holding out for a higher bidder.
City officials argued that he may have a hard time fetching a higher price, since the site is zoned for manufacturing construction. In 2005, the city announced plans to build a 28-acre park on the Bushwick Inlet. It acquired a 4.75-acre site in 2014 for $4.6 million and another 11 acres through eminent domain in 2007. In March, the city purchased a seven-acre site at 1 North 12th Street from Bayside Fuel Oil Depot for $53 million, but its attempts to expand to the CitiStorage site have been rebuffed due to the site’s price. [DNAinfo]Kathryn Brenzel